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RECRUITING
NCT07045818

DLPFC and Sympathetic Reactivity in RPL With Anxiety

Sponsor: Shenyang Medical College

View on ClinicalTrials.gov

Summary

We propose an exploratory clinical study (NEURO-CARD-2) that employs simultaneous functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and electrocardiography (ECG) to investigate interhemispheric dysfunction in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and its relationship with autonomic sympathetic activation in women with recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) and comorbid anxiety. Using a standardized multisensory aversive emotional stimulation paradigm, the study will assess cortical and cardiac responses within the framework of the Brain-Heart-Emotion interaction model. The objective is to identify neurobiological signatures underlying emotion-autonomic dysregulation in this population, thereby informing future development of precision-targeted interventions.

Official title: DLPFC Desynchronization and Sympathetic Cardiac Hyperarousal During Aversive Emotional Processing in Women With Recurrent Pregnancy Loss and Comorbid Anxiety: a Multimodal fNIRS-ECG Study (NEURO-CARD-fNIRS)

Key Details

Gender

FEMALE

Age Range

18 Years - 45 Years

Study Type

OBSERVATIONAL

Enrollment

50

Start Date

2025-07-01

Completion Date

2026-03-31

Last Updated

2025-11-18

Healthy Volunteers

No

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Emotional provocation task involving multisensory aversive stimuli

To elicit hemodynamic responses in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and activate the sympathetic nervous system, we used a standardized multisensory aversive stimulation protocol comprising: (i) Visual stimuli: 72 high-arousal images from the GAPED database (moral violations, legal violations, fear-related) shown in 12 blocks (6 images/block, 5 s each) with 20 s baseline and 30 s stimulation; (ii) Auditory stimuli: each block paired with 30 s of calibrated 90 dB(A) high-frequency narrowband white noise (4 kHz center frequency), shown to increase heart rate; (iii) Cold-pain stimuli: during each block, participants placed both hands on 0 °C ice-filled bottles for pain-induced sympathetic activation. This tri-modal task reliably provokes DLPFC engagement and autonomic responses.

Locations (2)

The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shenyang Medical College

Shenyang, Liaoning, China

Central Hospital Affiliated to Shenyang Medical Collage

Shenyang, Liaoning, China